On October 18, delegations from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia attended an international conference titled ‘’Peace, Stability and International Cooperation in the Caspian Region’’, that was held in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. According to an announcement issued by the Turkmen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the littoral states’ representatives outlined their national positions on joint economic and environmental activities and possible ways of solving common problems, as well as on the establishment of scientific marine centers and the development of a national marine strategy.
At this stage of the multilateral deliberations, it seems that most provisions of the future convention on the status of the Caspian Sea have already been agreed upon, the special envoy of the president on delimitation and demarcation of the border with neighboring CIS member states, Igor Bratchikov, admitted. "It is well known that ‘only an insurance policy gives a full guarantee’. But seriously speaking, there are all chances and all conditions for a successful outcome of the negotiation process on the status of the Caspian next year," Mr. Bratchikov was quoted as saying.
Back in June 2017, Ashgabat had hosted the 49th meeting of a special working group on the development of a Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea at the level of deputy foreign Ministers of the Caspian littoral states.
At the bottom of the dispute lies the question as to whether or not the Caspian should be dealt with as a lake or a sea. In recent years, there has been considerable legal debate on the applicability of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to the case of the Caspian. In spite of the signing of a series of bilateral and trilateral pacts on the delimitation and use of the Caspian seabed, coastal countries have not yet found common ground to settle the issue. For instance, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan all agree on the principle and method of dividing seabed rights along a modified median line. On the other hand, Iran strongly opposes the median line principle, claiming the Caspian is a lake and demanding that it be equally divided among the littoral states, an option that would increase its current share of the sea from 14% to 20%. As for Turkmenistan, it also appears to be in favor of a five-sector division approach, but with the use of an unorthodox (by international law standards) demarcation methodology of its own.
The long-unsettled status of the Caspian Sea has hindered progress on the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline (TCP), a project considered optimal for the delivery of Turkmen, and possibly Kazakh, energy resources to the European market. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, supported by the European Union, argue that they should be able to freely develop energy extraction and transportation projects in their respective sectors even before the all-inclusive Convention on legal status is signed. However, Russia and Iran deem the construction of the TCP illegal prior to the ratification of the Convention.
Available online at: http://www.caspianpolicy.org/energy/caspian-energy-insight-october-27-2017/#5
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